WASHINGTON — Monday night’s Iowa caucuses are key, as always, to the presidential election cycle, and will set the stage for the New Hampshire primary. But how significant is the Iowa voter base?
With 2.4 million voting-age residents, Iowa represents less than one percent of the nation’s eligible voters.
And Iowa is very white.
The Census Bureau says 90.2 percent of Iowa’s population is Caucasian, compared to 66.3 percent nationwide. Only 3.2 percent of Iowa’s population is black, compared to 12.5 percent nationally, 4.4 percent is Hispanic, compared to 15.3 percent nationally, and 2.4 percent is Asian, compared to 6 percent nationwide.
Iowans also are largely comfortable, with a median annual household income of $53,712, which is slightly above the national average of $53,657, and the poverty rate in Iowa is 11.3 percent, compared to 13.6 percent nationally.
Here’s a Census Bureau infographic of the Iowa voter population:
